Stephen Bilowus, a local real estate agent and member of the Fairfax Lions Club, is “giving back.” He has started a program to donate to Fairfax Lions Club charities 10% of his earnings from any transaction associated with a 2017 referral by a Fairfax Lion, and $500 per transaction in future years.  Stephen said, “I am proud of the wonderful charity outreach accomplished by the Fairfax Lions, and want to do what I can to give back to my community.”  At the Lions Club meeting on August 15th Stephen announced, “I am kicking off this effort with a $500 donation tonight to Lions charity programs.”

Realtor and Lion Stephen Bilowus

The Fairfax Lions have served the City of Fairfax community since 1951.  Their major charity programs include:

Fairfax Lions Club Charities

For information about the Fairfax Lions Club, see: https://fairfaxlions.org/  or email: fairfaxlions@cox.net

At the Fairfax Lions Club dinner meeting on August 1, Lion Ken Schutz’s membership report was interrupted by two Lion hunters “beating the bushes” for new Lions.  Lions Huey Sullivan and Marilyn Tanner, dressed in safari-like hats and vests, were focused on locating the attributes of new Lions.  They very quickly found the most important trait a new Lion should have – SERVICE MINDED, followed by LIKES TO HAVE FUN, WORKS WELL WITH OTHERS, ACTIVE, ENTHUSIASTIC, and CREATIVE.

                  Attributes of Lions Club Members

After their successful hunt, Huey and Marilyn carried their catch to the podium and mounted them for all to see. Their efforts were rewarded with a Lion treat from Membership Chair, Ken. Hopefully, others will be inspired to “beat the bushes” for new Fairfax Lions!!

Lions Marilyn, Ken, Huey Have Fun “Beating the Bushes”

Fairfax Lions raise money to donate to charitable programs and also perform hands-on community service. A summary of our service for Lions fiscal year 2016-2017:

                          Fairfax Lions Service, 2016-2017

More tips offered at our July 18 dinner meeting, by the  City of Fairfax Police.

Stolen ID? Quick Steps

At our dinner meeting on July 18, Fairfax City Police provided this advice for senior citizens:

Dr. Suleiman Alibhai spoke at the  June 15, 2017 meeting of the Fairfax chapter of the National Federation of the Blind.  Dr. Alibhai, a member of the Fairfax Lions Club, is very well known across the vision impaired community. Dr. Alibhai runs a local low vision clinic which assists people with vision loss to find tools to enable them to achieve their goals.

Dr. Suleiman Alibhai

Blind and visually impaired individuals are disproportionately unemployed or underemployed when compared to individuals with other disabilities.  They are also likely to be marginalized and misunderstood by the “sighted population.”  At this meeting Dr Alibhai urged representatives of low vision organizations to educate and inform the public that blind and visually impaired individuals live normal productive lives raising families, working and participating in recreational activities just like normally sighted individuals.  Interactions between normally sighted and visually impaired individuals at schools, in the workplace and social/recreational events is one way to the bridge the gap between these two groups. While there are totally blind individuals, there are also many people who are classified as being “low vision” meaning they cannot see normally even with glasses or contact lenses. Regardless of the classification, everyone deserves the opportunity to interact and participate in society in a productive manner.  All should become aware of the issues related to being blind or low vision and know how best to engage with individuals regardless of their vision status.